Squamish
The Squamish or S k w x wú7mesh ( [ sqʷχʷúʔməʃ ]; occasionally also written Skewamish ) are one of the Canadian First Nations in the southwest of the province of British Columbia . They live in the Metro Vancouver region and claim a traditional territory of 6,732 km². Culturally and linguistically, they belong to the coastal Salish group .
Their language, Squamish / Skwxwu7mesh or Sḵwxwú7mesh snichim ( snichim means "language"), belongs to the Central Coast Salish (Central Coast Salish) of Salishan languages and is closely related to the ɬəčələsəm / ɬəčælosəm (Lhéchalosem) the Nooksack (Noxws 'áʔaq) and the Sháshíshálh / She Sháshíshálhem (šášíšáɬəm) the Sechelt (Shishalh) .
Today (September 2013) the Squamish Nation (Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw) has 4062 recognized tribe members, 2245 of whom live in their own reservations, which are scattered between Howe Sound, Gibson's Landing and North Vancouver . 165 others live on other reservations, with 1,651 Squamish living outside. From their former tribal areas of approx. 6732 km², today's reserves only cover 28.28 km².
history
Early history
According to oral tradition, the Sḵwxwú7mesh came from the places Chekwelhp and Schenks near Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver . After the Great Flood , the Squamish people emerged. Other traditions name Chiyakmesh on the Cheakamus River as the place of origin.
The traditional territory of the Sḵwxwú7mesh ranges from English Bay and False Creek via Burrard Inlet , Howe Sound , Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast. In addition there is the place Squamish , the Cheakamus River, the Elaho and the Mamquam Rivers and Whistler . There are also overlapping areas with the Lillooet . Like most tribes in British Columbia, the Squamish - in contrast to large parts of Canada - have not signed a treaty with Great Britain or Canada in which they ceded their land. As a result, their territory often appears as an unceded territory.
Epidemics, contact with Europeans
Even before Europeans came into contact with the Squamish, a severe smallpox epidemic reached the region around 1775 . It was followed by another smallpox epidemic in the years 1800–1801, this one a flu wave from 1836 to 1837, then measles 1847–1848, again smallpox in 1862 . These severe population losses led to a significant change in culture.
The first contact with Europeans took place at the end of the 18th century. The first meeting took place in the village of St'a7mes , near what is now the town of Squamish . The English name Stawamus was derived from this place name . When the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Langley in 1827, the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh began growing more potatoes in the following decade.
The first European, however, was the Spanish captain José María Narváez . It wasn't until the next year, 1792, that George Vancouver came to Burrard Inlet . Vancouver not only noted the after-effects of the smallpox epidemic on various occasions, but also stated that the Squamish held copper in much higher esteem than iron.
The European traders who visited the Pacific coast first came for the otter pelts , which they could resell in China with enormous profit margins. They supplied metals and other goods, as well as weapons. The yields and the muskets changed the balance of power between the tribes very significantly. So the Nanaimo , Saanich , Songhees , Esquimalt , Musqueam and Squamish allied against the Indian tribes who went out on robbery and slave hunting, like the Lekwiltok . They lured her into a trap in Maple Bay. The largest tribal alliance in Western Canada's history also attacked Fort Victoria in 1843. Their leader Tzouhalem , chief of the Cowichan , however, agreed to a peace treaty.
During the Crimean War , the British returned to the Squamish territory. They formed a defensive alliance with the tribe to defend the north bank of Burrard Inlet in the event of a Russian attack . The British wanted to take over the south bank. However, the expected attack did not materialize.
Gold rush, proselytizing, reservation
With the Cariboo gold rush from 1858, which brought tens of thousands of gold prospectors to the region, the comparatively peaceful coexistence broke off. With a certain delay, this also applied to the Squamish area, where the first settlers arrived in 1873. "Navvy Jack" Thomas built the first house in what is now West Vancouver and married the daughter of a Squamish chief. The transplanted and heavily remodeled house now stands at 1768 Argyle Street.
In 1876 the first Squamish census was carried out in what is now Stanley Park . It resulted in a number of around 80 tribal members living there. Their chief was Khaytulk, called Supple Jack, the son of chief Khahtsahlanogh. On November 27, 1876, the Squamish, like all Indian tribes in Canada, were assigned a reservation. The chief was baptized by Father N. Gregane on February 12, 1879. In 1884 a Catholic church was consecrated in Ustlawn village , the Indian missionary village in North Vancouver . The Sacred Heart Church replaced a chapel that had existed since 1868, built by the Squamish who converted to Catholicism. It has been called St. Paul's since 1910 .
In 1892 there were new negotiations about the Kahpil-lak-no Creek Indian reserve on Burrard Inlet. In 1895 minor changes were made to Capilano Indian reserve 5 . In 1900, Chief Jack Khahtsahlano gave a potlatch where he distributed 100 blankets, among numerous other gifts, to commemorate the transfer of the chieftain's office to him that had taken place a few years earlier.
In the meantime, Vancouver, with a population of 400, had become a city of 13,000 in just six years (1885 to 1891). Logging began in the late 1890s, but the horse-drawn carts only allowed small deliveries of wood. That changed in 1926 when Merrill & Ring , an American company, brought the timber industry to the Squamish area with a lot of machinery.
Meanwhile, parts of the Squamish land were sold. It was not until 1923 that the various house groups were amalgamated into one tribe.
Forced assimilation
As everywhere in Canada, the children of the Indians were pushed into boarding-type schools. The Residential School intended for Squamish was St. Paul's Residential School in the village of Eslha7an in North Vancouver, where the oldest church in British Columbia is, St. Paul's Church. However, some children also went to school in Sechelt . The school in Eslha7an was inaugurated in 1898 and was initially an Indian boarding school . It was demolished in 1959.
Su-á-pu-luck (Joseph Capilano)
The most famous Squamish chief was Su-á-pu-luck, better known under the name of Jo Capilano . Su-á-pu-luck, born around 1854 in Yekw'ts (near Squamish), was the son of Letekwámcheten. He was born in one of the Catholic missions and had twelve children with his wife, Mary Agnes Lí x welut. When he married her on May 21, 1872, he was baptized. The two lived in the North Vancouver Catholic Mission.
When Chief Láwa died in 1895, Father Paul Durieu campaigned for Su-á-pu-luck to be his successor. However, part of the tribe opposed the Christian chief and moved to the Capilano reserve to the west. Su-á-pu-luck converted some of the Squamish and built a church. He soon traveled to Vancouver Island and preached there.
But at the same time he increasingly resisted land expropriation and the restrictions that made hunting and fishing increasingly difficult. But the success was small. Therefore, in 1906 he decided to head a delegation - together with Basil David of the Shuswap and Chillihitza of the Okanagan - to travel to England to meet with King Edward VII and present him with a petition . The three had been selected at joint First Nations meetings . Traditionally, the leader of the delegation was given the name Capilano - in the Anglicised version - which is attributed to an outstanding leader among the Squamish and Musqueam. Hence he became known under the name Joe Capilano. With the Squamish he was still called Su-á-pu-luck. The delegation traveled to Ottawa , where they met Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier , and from there to London. The Canadian High Commissioner , Lord Strathcona arranged the July 3rd audience.
The petition stated that the Indians' rights to their land had never been extinguished, that settlers were pushing their land without asking for permission, that demands on the Canadian government were fruitless, and that the Indian agents were the Indians - who had no right to vote had - not even asked when it came directly to their business.
On his return, Su-á-pu-luck was enthusiastically received. Apart from the publicity, the friendly reception by the king, the handing over of the petition, he had to announce that the negotiations had to be conducted with Ottawa, not with the king. Nevertheless, the First Nations had for the first time taken the protest against their bad treatment into their own hands. Su-á-pu-luck himself drew the consequence from the lack of support from the Catholic clergy that he informed them that they were no longer welcome in his area.
In 1908 Su-á-pu-luck traveled again to Ottawa, but also advertised on the Skeena River for the fact that the tribes there had to take their affairs into their own hands. The newspapers in Canada increasingly viewed him as a troublemaker and demanded that he be punished. When he died on March 10, 1910, all the tribal leaders of the Lower Mainlands and Vancouver Island appeared for his funeral on the Capilano Reservation.
In 1911, the Legends of Vancouver by Emily Pauline Johnson (1861-1913), a poet and daughter of Six Nations chief George Henry Martin Johnson (Onwanonsyshon) , appeared in Vancouver . She had met "Joe Capilano" there during his trip to London and in 1907 began to campaign for the cause of the Indians.
Despite some success, the Kitsilano Squamish had to vacate their reservation near Vancouver . Meanwhile, the places north of Vancouver grew rapidly. North Vancouver already had around 5000 inhabitants in 1910.
The Making of the Squamish Nation
The 16 Squamish-speaking tribes agreed to merge on July 23, 1923 after ten years of negotiations. The rapid growth of the city of Vancouver increasingly threatened its livelihoods, led to processes of displacement, and it became clear that only a common approach could ensure survival. Substantial parts of the tribal area are leased, but even the areas that are not leased remain at risk. They are cut up by roads, bridges, power stations and railroad lines.
A revitalization project began in the 1960s, initially of language. The so-called BC Language Project , led by Randy Bouchard and Dorothy Kennedy, began to document the language and develop an appropriate writing system. The language is now being taught again from kindergarten onwards and the second language French is beginning to be displaced.
In 1982 the provincial government passed a management plan for the congested Squamish River , but again did not consult the Squamish. The expansion of the deep-water harbor off Vancouver was another challenge. In 1992 the Squamish developed their own Squamish Estuary Development Plan . In 1996 negotiations began with BC Rails , one of the port operators and the provincial government, which eventually resulted in a contract. In some places, the Squamish received a third of the land - for a symbolic price - and the right to buy more of it later.
The Squamish have been in contract negotiations with British Columbia since 1993 (BC Treaty Process). In 1995 they reached the third of six levels.
As part of the settlement agreement , the state of Canada offered the Squamish compensation of $ 92.5 million. Robert Nault, Minister of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, was responsible for the presentation in 2000.
In 2001 the Squamish signed a mutual support agreement with their former neighbors, the Lil Wat People ( Lillooet ). In order to represent their interests vis-à-vis the government, however, they first had to be determined through surveys - according to their own way of communication. As part of an Aboriginal Interest Use Study , the elders were asked about traditions, but the current use (fishing, hunting, collecting, spiritually significant places, etc.) was also written down. The resulting map is now compatible with a kind of land use plan of the government agencies.
Overall, the Squamish, who live in the middle of the booming metro Vancouver region, are considered to be economically relatively successful. They now employ around 350 people.
In view of the Olympic Winter Games 2010 planned on their territory and that of the St'at'imc and other Salish tribes , part of the tribe, especially the Native Youth Movement , is resisting the expropriation of the area they claim (“No Olympics on Stolen Land ”). The leaders of the so-called four host tribes, the Lil'wat , Musqueam , Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh , on the other hand, support the Olympic Games and hope to make a profit from it.
reserve
The Squamish live mainly in the Mission 1 reservation , which is only 59.6 hectares in size. Cheakamus 11 at the confluence of the Cheakamus and Squamish Rivers, on the other hand, covers 1639.4 hectares. There are also 22 other reserves, especially on Burrard Inlet (more than 250 hectares), on the banks of Squamish and Howe Sound , and on the islets of Defense Island and Keats Island.
See also
- History of the Coastal Salish
- History of British Columbia
- History of Washington
- First Nations history
- List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada
literature
- Barbara Wyss [Khalt-siya]: Squamish People of the Sunset Coast , 2007
- Barbara Wyss [Khalt-siya]: All My Relations: Perspectives on Commemorating Aboriginal Women , 1994
- Chris Roine: The Squamish Aboriginal Economy, 1860-1940 , University of Western Ontario 1991
- Joan Ryan: Squamish Socialization , University of British Columbia, Department of Anthropology and Sociology 1973, 1-253
- Wayne Suttles (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 7: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1990 ISBN 0-87474-187-4
- Reinhold W. Kremer: The West Vancouver Youth Band and the Squamish Nation, in 360 ° Canada. The all- round perspective , 3, summer 2019, 360-degree media, Mettmann ISSN 1869-8328 pp. 66 - 67, with pictures
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Squamish ( memento of the original from October 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ralph Maud, Wayne P. Suttles: Coast Salish essays , Vancouver: Talonbooks 1987, p. 139.
- ↑ George Vancouver: A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World 1791-1795 , Ed. W. Kaye Lamb, London 1984, 580-583.
- ↑ Squamish, Reserves ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
